


reunion

by happyrobins



Series: baby!Damian AU [6]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, baby!Damian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-02
Updated: 2015-03-02
Packaged: 2018-03-16 01:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3468803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyrobins/pseuds/happyrobins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>anon on tumblr: ”I was wondering, is there any possibility to see Baby!Damian (from the verse) interact with Jason after he comes back from the dead? I love these two as brothers and I love how you make them interact, so I was just wondering.(or like crossing my fingers)”</p>
            </blockquote>





	reunion

"I saw Jason."

Bruce's grip tightens on the steering wheel and his throat seizes at the name. For a moment he can't speak. He wants to look back at Damian in the backseat but he's in the middle of traffic and can't take his eyes off the road.

"At school today we had our field trip to the museum," explains Damian. "The bus stopped at the red light and I saw him. He was walking right beside us. His clothes were all dirty and his hair was longer. He looked sad. But it was him."

"No, Damian. It wasn't... It wasn't him. It couldn't be," Bruce says firmly. Jason is dead, they buried him. It's impossible. As smart and gifted as Damian is, he's only five years old, too young to truly comprehend death. And he's always had an active imagination. "I know that you're unhappy about Tim becoming Robin, but--"

"It's not about that! I saw Jason! I did!" Damian shouts indignantly. And then, so soft that Bruce almost misses it, "I knew you wouldn't believe me."

It's silent inside the car for a minute. Bruce makes a decision. He presses hard on the gas and swerves into the next lane so he can make a turn. Damian yelps in surprise from the backseat. 

"Tell me where," says Bruce.

They find the intersection and park the car nearby. Bruce holds onto Damian's hand tightly as they walk around the block searching--it's still light out, but the five muggings and two assaults he's prevented in this neighbourhood in the past week weigh heavily on his mind.

"He's somewhere else by now," insists Damian when they get back to the car without a sighting, without finding a single clue. "I _saw_  him. I did."

Bruce buckles Damian into his booster seat. ”It was just someone that looked like him,” he says quietly. He strokes Damian’s hair, trying to ignore the disappointment that’s like a bitter taste in his mouth.

Damian meets his father’s eyes unflinchingly. ”No. It was Jason."

 

* * *

 

Damian is sleeping fitfully, like he does whenever a member of his family is injured. Dick is going to be fine, his leg will heal up fine, but that knowledge isn't enough to stop the unhappy dreams. Damian lies awake, clutching his blankets close and watching the flickering pinpricks of light that are the fireflies outside, by the edge of the woods, reminding himself over and over that Dick is okay, he's sleeping in the room just across the hall and he's okay.

Just as Damian is dozing off again, he's startled awake by the realization that _someone is outside his window_. He stares wide-eyed at the shadowy figure on the other side of the glass. Closing his eyes, he pulls the blanket over his head and pinches his arm, hoping he's still dreaming. He's not.

He reaches in the gap between the mattress and the wall to find the knife he keeps there, the one his mom gave him two birthdays ago. His fingers wrap around the handle as he hears the tapping on the window. The special knock. Only he and one other person know it.

Damian is jumping out of bed and fumbling the latch open before it even crosses his mind to call for an adult. The man climbs through the window and he looks so different than Damian remembers that for a moment he's worried he made a mistake, but that disappears once the man speaks and ruffles his hair.

"Hiya, squirt. Thanks."

Damian stares. "Jason," he says quietly, and his long-lost older brother looks relieved, like he was worried Damian wouldn't remember him. Damian lunges forward and hugs Jason with all his strength. "I missed you. I _knew_  that..." The rest is muffled against Jason's jacket. Jason rubs Damian's back comfortingly, murmuring apologies for being gone so long. When they finally separate, Damian looks up at Jason in awe. He's as tall as Bruce now. "You're a grown-up."

"You've gotten big, too. Look at you." Jason's voice is a bit choked. Damian isn't too big for Jason to pick up, though, and he carries the boy to the bed, sitting down with Damian on his lap. Damian has considered himself too old for this sort of thing for years now, but he lets himself be held without complaint. Jason's eyes are full of regret as he takes a long look at Damian's face. "I wish I could've come to see you sooner."

"I have to go get Alfred. And Dick," says Damian, squirming out of Jason's arms. His father is gone right now, but they're both at home. He can't wait to show them Jason, alive and well. "They'll be so happy."

Jason holds Damian tighter to stop him from getting away. "Shh, no," he whispers against Damian's ear. "You can't tell them I was here."

Damian frowns. "Why not?" he asks indignantly, struggling and pushing until Jason has no choice but to loosen his hold and let Damian climb down to the floor. Damian notices for the first time the red helmet Jason carried in with him and placed beside him on the bed when he sat down. It's blank and featureless except for the empty white eyes. Damian touches it curiously. "What's that? Dad and Dick got into a fight with a criminal wearing one of those..." he remembers aloud, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. The look on Jason's face tells him all he needs to know. "That was you."

"Listen, Damian. What's going on right now is... really complicated. It's all part of a larger plan." Jason kneels in front of Damian, gripping his younger brother's shoulders. "I shouldn't have even come here, but everything's coming to the moment of truth soon and I just... I wanted to see you again before..."

"Before what?" Damian demands to know. Jason doesn't answer, stony faced and stubbornly silent. Damian tries again. "What plan?"

Jason takes a long time to answer. So long that Damian thinks he won't.

"You remember when you were four years old and the Joker kidnapped you from the toy store?" he asks, finally, his voice sounding raw. He's squeezing Damian's shoulders so hard it's almost painful. "Bruce caught him and he went to jail, but he broke out a few months later. You had nightmares for weeks while he was loose. Bruce should've done something then, but he didn't. Even after what-- what happened to _me_ , he couldn't bother. No matter what that murderous clown does, Bruce lets him live and cause more pain." Jason stands, towering over Damian. "It's not right, and I'm going to fix it. I'll make sure he never hurts anyone again."

"Dad said the Red Hood is a bad guy. You killed people. Is that true?"

An expression flashes across Jason's face, something harsh and ugly. Dangerous. And he says the words Damian thought he'd never hear from Jason, not his Jason. They're dismissive and sneering, and they hurt: "You can't understand. You're just a kid."

" _You hurt Dick_." Damian points at him accusingly. "Alfred had to bandage up his leg."

"Collateral damage. It won't matter in the end, you'll see. I'm going to do what Bruce should've done if he really cared about Gotham, or any of us. I'm going to rid this city of a _disease_. It'll be safer for you and everyone else."

"I don't care about that. I just want you to come home."

Jason smiles. But it's not a smile Damian is familiar with. It makes him feel uneasy. Damian wonders what Jason would do if he ran to the door, if he yelled for Alfred and Dick. He's never been scared of Jason before.

"Damian..." Jason says fondly, regretfully, then shakes his head. "I can't stay any longer--I've got a meeting to keep with Bruce. Maybe one day, when you're older, you'll be able to understand why I'm doing this." He hugs Damian close one more time. Damian feels a sharp prick against his neck and then his vision goes fuzzy, his body too heavy for him to move. Jason tucks him back into bed gently. "Can't have you warning anyone. Sleep tight, squirt. I love you."

The last thing Damian remembers before he falls asleep is a kiss to his forehead. That red helmet haunts his dreams that night and the nights to follow, in the same way the Joker used to.

 


End file.
